Several connector designs are known to use magnetic attraction in mating to a magnetic connector receptacle integrated in a computing device (e.g. a laptop, a tablet or a smartphone) for delivery of electrical power. For example, magnetic connectors Magsafe and Magsafe 2 are sold by Apple for use in combination with their computing devices that have multiple magnets residing in their connector receptacle. Such a connector may contain a ferromagnetic material, which might potentially interact with any source of magnetic field to be partially magnetized and become a small magnetic field source itself. This might affect the accuracy or safety of sensitive electronics, attract conductive elements to the connector or otherwise cause some damage to the computing device. In addition, connectors that do not detach easily from the connector receptacle may cause injury to a user who may for example, trip over a cord connected to the connector receptacle. As such, there exists a need to improve safety and to provide mating solutions for electrical connection between a connector and a connector receptacle that are either non-magnetic or mitigate the disadvantages of magnetic element-based solutions.
FIG. 46 shows a laptop, an exemplary computing device. It comprises a display screen attached to a main body portion, which typically contains the hardware necessary for processing and storage. In typical embodiments, the screen display portion hinges to the main body portion and may be opened by a user during operation to reveal the screen or may be closed by a user (for example, during storage). The main body portion typically contains a keyboard and a track pad to allow user input to the computing device.
The keyboard and track pad are accessible via an upper surface of the main body portion, while the lower surface of the main body portion rests on the surface that the laptop is placed on (e.g. a table or a user's lap). Perpendicular surfaces wrap around the main body portion, and connect to the upper and lower surfaces of the main body portion. Connector receptacles for connecting other electronic devices (e.g. peripheral devices such as printers etc.), power sources, or loads to the laptop may be accessible via any of the surfaces of the laptop including the perpendicular surfaces that wrap around the main body portion. Each connector receptacle is formed by a connector receptacle housing which may, in embodiments, be used to attach the connector receptacle to the rest of the computing device. In other embodiments, the electrical pins of the connector receptacle may be attached directly to the main printed circuit board (PCB) of the computing device.
For ease of reference hereinafter, the surfaces of the laptop can be denoted as follows:                First Surface—Side wall of main body portion on the left looking from TOP perspective        Second Surface—Side wall of main body portion on the right looking from TOP perspective        Third Surface—Side wall of main body portion on the front looking from TOP perspective        Fourth Surface—Side wall of main body portion on the rear looking from TOP perspective        Fifth Surface—Upper surface of main body portion        Sixth Surface—Lower surface of main body portion        Seventh Surface—Front surface of display screen portion        Eighth Surface—Rear surface of display screen portion        